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Anti-crisis anger turns into global movement against greed

Clashes erupted in New York and Rome and protesters camped out Sunday in worldwide demonstrations seen as a show of force by a rising global movement against corporate greed and government cutbacks.

There were rallies in 951 cities in 80 countries around the globe on Saturday in an extension of a campaign born on May 15 with a rally in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square by a group calling itself “Indignados” (“Indignants”).

“The Indignados movement rises again with global force,” read a front page headline in Spain’s El Pais daily on Sunday. In Italy, La Stampa said: “The world takes to the streets: united, peaceful and colourful.”

“The fact is there is now clearly an international movement. Its preface was the ‘Arab Spring’ seen in Cairo, Tunis and Benghazi,” Eugenio Scalfari, a columnist for the Italian daily La Repubblica.

“It expresses the anger of a generation with no future and no faith in traditional politics but above all financial institutions seen as responsible for the crisis and profiteers of the damage to the common good,” he said.

The biggest rallies were in Lisbon, Madrid and Rome, where tens of thousands came out. There were thousands too in Washington and New York where the “Occupy Wall Street” movement has gained momentum in recent weeks.

“I think it is very moving that the movement that was born here has extended throughout the world. It was about time for people to rise up,” said 24-year-old Carmen Martin as she marched towards Puerta del Sol.

In London, scuffles broke out after a few thousand people gathered in the financial district near St Paul’s Cathedral, raising banners saying: “Strike back!” “No cuts!” and “Goldman Sachs is the work of the devil!”